Electromagnetic reciprocating motor

ABSTRACT

An electromagnetically reciprocating motor assembled in a housing, and including an electrical circuit having normally open contacts, and arm mounted in the housing and actuable to close said contacts, a magnetically permeable core, a spring yieldably urging said core in travel to actuate said arm to close said contacts, a solenoid, effective when energized to counter said spring and reverse the travel of said core to open said contacts; said contacts being assembled in and projecting from a plug, the housing having a socket to removably receive said plug to facilitate replacement of worn contacts, and a closure adapted to enclose both plug and socket to resist introduction of moisture and dirt into said housing; one said contact having a flat face, and the other contact having an arcuate face, to effect a rocking, wiping, cleansing action upon closing of the contacts.

United States Patent Voros, Jr. June 13, 1972 [54] ELECTROMAGNETIC 2,505,395 4/1950 Grat2muller..... .....3l0/30 X RECIPROCATING MOTOR 2,497,105 2/1950 Voros, Jr. ..310/31 [72] Inventor: Anton Voros, Jr., 15886 Dacosta, Detroit, p Examiner D Duggan Mich 48223 AttorneyAllan J. Murray [22] Filed: July 16, 1971 App]. No.: 163,257

[57] ABSTRACT An electromagnetically reciprocating motor assembled in a housing, and including an electrical circuit having normally open contacts, and arm mounted in thehousing and actuable to close said contacts, a magnetically permeable core, a spring yieldably urging said core in travel to actuate said arm to close said contacts, a solenoid, effective when energized to counter said spring and reverse the travel of said core to open said contacts; said contacts being assembled in and projecting from a plug, the housing having a socket to removably receive said plug to facilitate replacement of worn contacts, and a closure adapted to enclose both plug and socket to resist introduction of moisture and dirt into said housing; one said contact having a flat face, and the other contact having an arcuate face, to effect a rocking, wiping, cleansing action upon closing of the contacts.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 ELECTROMAGNETIC RECIPROCATING MOTOR BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Theinvention lies in the area of electromagnetically powered motors with replaceable contact points.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART Prior art includes a variety of motors of the general nature described, none of which contemplates the provision of a pair of normally open electrical contacts so assembled that they may be simply plugged into a socket and extracted therefrom when replacement is necessary.

SUMMARY AND OBJECT OF THE INVENTION Invention is believed to reside in the provision of contact points so assembled as to form a plug-in" unit to facilitate the ease of replacement.

An object of the invention is to provide a pair of elongated electrically conductive arms respectively lbearing respective, normally open contact points, and to incorporate said arms in a non-conductive plug removably receivable in a socket formed in a motor housing.

Another object is to so assemble said contacts, arms, and plug, that replacement of contacts can be easily effected without the use of tools. I

Still a further object of the invention is to form a boss on a wall of said housing and to form in the boss, a socket communicating with the interior of the housing, and to provide a closure to encompass said boss and resist the intrusion of dirt or moisture interiorly of the housing.

These and various other objects are attained by the con struction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view in partial section through the center of an annular housing containing the electromagnetic motor.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal, sectional view of the motor and housing takenon line 22 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational, fragmentary view in partial section, showing a portion of the housing with the contacts withdrawn from the socket.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing the electrically conductive arms, the plug, the socket walls, and a sleeve which encompasses the socket walls.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, elevational view on a larger scale illustrating a wiping action afforded by the use of one flat faced contact engaging an arcuately faced contact, as hereinafter further described.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 6-6 of FIG. 3 illustrating a pair of spaced sliding fingers for said contact breaker, flanking a guide member.

In these views the reference character 1 designates the bottom portion of a housing, having a complementary upper portion 2. For purposes of illustration, the casing 3, and a portion of a diaphragm pump is shown surmounting the upper portion 2 of said housing. A closure 4 may be secured to said casing 3 in any convenient manner, and the casing may be secured to said upper portion of the housing as by screws 3a (FIG. 2) extending from the upper housing portion 2 into the diaphragm pump casing 3.

The lower portion 1 and upper portion 2 of said housing, may be joined as at 5 by threads (not shown), or any other conventional means. It is to be noted that the lower portion of the housing is formed with a bottom wall 6, and a transversely and upwardly extending, annularly continuous side wall 7. Within the bottom portion of the housing is disposed solenoid 8 having a core 9 formed of a magnetically permeable material. Said core is circular, and is concentrically formed with a hole 10 elongated along its longitudinal axis. The hole 10 receives a compression spring 11 which tends to urge the core upwardly to close an electrical circuit as hereinafter explained.

The bottom wall 6 is formed with a hole 12 tapped to receive a threaded plug ,13. As is clearly seen from FIG. 1, the spring 11 reacts between the plug 13 and the bottom of the hole 10 to urge the core upwardly, as shown in FIG. 1. A conical recess in the lower face of the core 10 is contoured to complement a conical upwardly projecting portion 15 of the plug 13 to avert interference by the plug with the descent of the core responsive to energization of the solenoid.

A small portion of the core extends upwardly from the solenoid, and the upper surface of the core is surmounted by a disc 16. While the core would be drawn downwardly as illustrated in FIG. 1, by energization of the solenoid, it has been found that addition of the disc 16 increases the power and speed of reaction of the core to said energization. It will be understood, of course, that energization of the solenoid creates a magnetic field to which the core 9 and the disc 16 respond.

An insulating spacer 17 is disposed concentrically upon said disc 16, and is formed with an upwardly projecting portion 18 having a reduced diameter. On the upper face of said portion there rests a second insulating spacer l9.

Upwardly of said last mentioned insulating spacer is shown, for illustrative purposes only, a portion of a diaphragm assembly 20, an intake tube 20a, and an output tube 20b protruding from the diametrically opposite sides of the diaphragm pump casing 3. A screw 20a secures the pump to the core 9, and maintains insulators 17, 18, and 19 in assembly.

The reduced diameter portion 18 of the insulating spacer 17 extends upwardly through a circuit closing arm 21. An end portion of said circuit closer 21 is secured as by screw 23 to a boss 24 formed interiorly of the upper housing portion 2. The circuit closer is formed approximately centrally of its length with an annular enlargement 25, formed with a hole 26 to receive the portion 18 of said spacer 17. In close proximity to said annular enlargement are a pair of spaced guides 27 integrally formed upon the circuit closer 21, to slide on a guide member 28 formed integrally with said upper portion 2 of the housing.

The unsecured end portion 29 of the circuit closer 21 is arcuately formed to bear against a movable and flexible contact arm 30, bearing on its end portion an arcuately faced contact 31. A flat faced contact 32 is mounted on the end portion of an immobilized contact arm 33. It is contemplated, of course, that both contact arms 30 and 33 will be of an electrically conductive material. The end portion of the contact arm 33 is extended, as shown in FIG. 1, to be received in a notch 35 in the aforesaid guide 28, whereby the contact arm 33 is held immobile.

A non-conductive plug 36 serves to assemble the two contact arms in a desired, and normally open position. A boss 37 is formed on the side wall of the upper portion 2 of said housing, and said boss is formed with a socket 38 which has a hole 39 formed in the bottom face thereof and communicating with the interior of the housing. A closure 40, of electrically nonconductive material, may be fitted about the assembled contact arms, in a manner to engage a protruding portion 41 of the immobile contact arm 33. Obviously the provision of the closure 40 will resist the admission of water and dirt to the interior of the housing.

When the contacts 31 and 32 are closed, a circuit is completed by means of a wire 43 extending from the screw 23 to the solenoid 8, and from the solenoid, by means of a wire 44 extending through the lower portion 2 of the housing, to ground.

It will now be apparent that the spring 10, normally urges the core 9 upwardly causing the circuit closing arm 21 to effect engagement of the contacts 31, 32, thus closing the circuit. When the circuit is closed, and an electromagnetic field is generated, the response of the core 9, and the associated disc 16, is to be drawn downwardly.

The circuit closer 21 is tensioned to normally flex downwardly, and thus will move downwardly when permitted to do so by the retraction of the core into the solenoid, thus allowing contacts 31, 32 to assume their normally open position. It should be noted that the reduced diameter portion 18 of the lower insulating spacer efiects a spacing between the lower spacing of the upper insulating spacer 19, and the shoulder of the lower spacer formed by the provision of said reduced diameter. Thus a slight lost motion is afforded to slightly delay the opening and closing of the contacts as the solenoid is energized and de-energized.

The jam nut 45 may be applied to the exteriorly protruding portion of the threaded plug 13, to secure said plug in a desired vertical position relative to said spring, to regulate the force applied by said spring within the core 9.

What I claim is:

1. A reciprocating, electromagnetic motor including a housing having a bottom wall and a continuous side wall, said hous ing containing a solenoid,

an electrical circuit to energize said solenoid,

said electrical circuit having a pair of contacts tensioned to have a normally open position, and having a closed position, to close said circuit,

yieldably resistant means urging said contacts to said closed position,

said yieldably resistant means yielding to energization of said solenoid to allow said contacts to open,

a plug-member, assembling said contacts to removably plug into said housing in an operative position, and

a socket formed in the housing wall to removably receive said plug.

2. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 1,

a magnetically permeable core movable by said yieldably resistant means to close said contacts, and responsive, when said solenoid is energized, to overcome said yieldably resistant means and allow said contacts to assume said normally open position, and

an annular, magnetically permeable disc, rigidly carried by I said core and disposed thereon to intensify said response to said energization.

3. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 1,

a boss projecting from said side wall,

said socket being formed in said boss, and having a bottom surface,

a hole extending through said bottom surface to communicate with the interior of said housing,

a closure removably received on said boss, and

one of said contacts protruding exteriorly through said closure to receive electrical current.

4. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 1,

said pair of contacts being respectively mounted on electrically conductive elongated arms,

one arm being tensioned to establish said normally open position,

a magnetically permeable core movable by said yieldably resistant means to close said contacts,

a circuit closing device actuated by said core to engage said one arm with a force predetermined to flex said arm after said contacts are closed,

whereby a rubbing action is effected between said contacts to effect a self-cleaning, mutual wiping of said contacts.

5. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 4,

one of said contacts having a flat contact face,

the remaining contact having an arcuate face, whereby the flexing of said elongated arm causes a slight, arcuate, rocking travel of said arcuately formed contact upon the flat face of the opposite contact to effect said mutual wiping action.

6. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 2,

a boss projecting from said side wall,

- said socket being formed in said-boss, and having a bottom surface,

a hole extending through said bottom surface to communicate with the interior of the housing,

a closure removably received on said boss, and one of said contacts protruding exteriorly through said closure to receive electrical current.

7. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 3,

said pair of said elongated arms,

one arm being tensioned to establish said normally position,

a magnetically permeable core movable by said yieldably resistant means to close said contacts,

a circuit'closing device actuated by said core to engage said one arm with a force predetermined to flex said arm after said contacts are closed,

whereby a rubbing action is effected between said contacts to effect a self-cleaning, mutual wiping of said contacts.

8. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 7,

one of said contacts having a flat contact face, the remaining contact having an arcuate face, whereby the flexing of said elongated arm causes a slight, arcuate, rocking travel of said arcuately formed contact upon the flat face of the opposite contact to effect said mutual wiping action.

open 

1. A reciprocating, electromagnetic motor including a housing having a bottom wall and a continuous side wall, said housing containing a solenoid, an electrical circuit to energize said solenoid, said electrical circuit having a pair of contacts tensioned to have a normally open position, and having a closed position, to close said circuit, yieldably resistant means urging said contacts to said closed position, said yieldably resistant means yielding to energization of said solenoid to allow said contacts to open, a plug member, assembling said contacts to removably plug into said housing in an operative position, and a socket formed in the housing wall to removably receive said plug.
 2. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 1, a magnetically permeable core movable by said yieldably resistant means to close said contacts, and responsive, when said solenoid is energized, to overcome said yieldably resistant means and allow said contacts to assume said normally open position, and an annular, magnetically permeable disc, rigidly carried by said core and disposed thereon to intensify said response to said energization.
 3. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 1, a boss projecting from said side wall, said socket being formed in said boss, and having a bottom surface, a hole extending through said bottom surface to communicate with the interior of said housing, a closure removably received on said boss, and one of said contacts protruding exteriorly through said closure to receive electrical current.
 4. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 1, said pair of contacts being respectively mounted on electrically conductive elongated arms, one arm being tensioned to establish said normally open position, a magnetically permeable core movable by said yieldably resistant means to close said contacts, a circuit closing device Actuated by said core to engage said one arm with a force predetermined to flex said arm after said contacts are closed, whereby a rubbing action is effected between said contacts to effect a self-cleaning, mutual wiping of said contacts.
 5. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 4, one of said contacts having a flat contact face, the remaining contact having an arcuate face, whereby the flexing of said elongated arm causes a slight, arcuate, rocking travel of said arcuately formed contact upon the flat face of the opposite contact to effect said mutual wiping action.
 6. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 2, a boss projecting from said side wall, said socket being formed in said boss, and having a bottom surface, a hole extending through said bottom surface to communicate with the interior of the housing, a closure removably received on said boss, and one of said contacts protruding exteriorly through said closure to receive electrical current.
 7. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 3, said pair of said elongated arms, one arm being tensioned to establish said normally open position, a magnetically permeable core movable by said yieldably resistant means to close said contacts, a circuit closing device actuated by said core to engage said one arm with a force predetermined to flex said arm after said contacts are closed, whereby a rubbing action is effected between said contacts to effect a self-cleaning, mutual wiping of said contacts.
 8. A reciprocating electromagnetic motor as set forth in claim 7, one of said contacts having a flat contact face, the remaining contact having an arcuate face, whereby the flexing of said elongated arm causes a slight, arcuate, rocking travel of said arcuately formed contact upon the flat face of the opposite contact to effect said mutual wiping action. 